STEMD even better than STEAM

Sometimes semantics are just that, semantics.  And sometimes words and their meanings are crucial to pointing one's thinking in a clear articulate direction.  Last week I lead design thinking workshops at a K-8 STEAM conference.  STEAM is the updated acronym that adds art and design to the popular Science, Technology, Engineering and Math shorthand.

When John Maeda (MIT, RISD) first proposed that STEM become STEAM, it was a welcome initiative.  The addition of art and design seems like a no-brainer for those of us in the arts.
My question is for educators trying to add the arts and design to STEM through curriculum design:  is  STEMD with D design a more articulate, targeted and easily integrated vision?  Is it clearer?

I admit a post like this might seem pretty self-indulgent due to the fact that STEAM is already such a useful addition to STEM.  But below are a few reasons why it would be as inspiring to use STEMD in addition to STEAM.

Art implies creativity with the maker as the spark and driving force.

Design puts a user, function and purpose at the center of process.

Art has intrinsic value.

Design is a means to an end.

Art is play and discovery driven by the human need for personal expression.

Design is the meta process of problem solving in the service of solution making.

Art can be collaborative and use feedback and revision.

Design is collaborative and relies on feedback and revision.


STEAM adds the A.  STEMD is grounded by D.

For curriculum design, I would argue that bringing a design throughline to science, technology, engineering and math skills may be a clearer and more useful way to bring the arts to the sciences.

I told you, indulgent post!

Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball Roar

I did not set out to defend, support, interpret and preach about Miley Cyrus.  My involvement came suddenly after the hateful response to her VMA performance and then gradually, as I began to digest her reality as post Disney character, Hannah Montana.  Jerked into consciousness by her highly dissonant dance maneuvers and her over-the-top tongue and foam finger gestures, I tried to interpret the composition.  The only word that came to mind was critique, a critique of the culture of  sexualization and objectification of women.  Since that initial interpretation I've added four words to better describe her performance: meta, commentary, statement and mirror.   Miley Cyrus is a meta, commentary, statement and mirror of American sexist culture.  

To be concise Ms. Cyrus so perfectly captured where American media has landed in terms of how women are sexualized and objectified that her apparent romp and sense of her own sex drive and expression were secondary to her commentary and meta statement about how women are depicted and depict themselves in our pop-culture.  In this way, the fact that it did not come across as sexy but rather crass and awkward made perfect sense.  It was a heightened regurgitating of all that has lead us to this moment.  I found the performance utterly refreshing in its ability to top all former attention grabbing plays by the likes of Madonna  or Britney Spears and others.  More importantly its ability to jolt its viewers into a form of confusion was noteworthy.  Why is this performer so wild, crazy, irreverent?  Why can't you go back into your Hannah Montana box, Miley? Every hateful comment I read harkened either a continuation of a sexist perspective or worse.  Some comments reveal a disappointment with where a woman has taken the objectification of her gender.  Not working for you?  I would offer this sexist culture is not working for anyone.

In the last week, I have become consumed with both Katy Perry's "Roar" video and Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball".  Both these pieces of art, and yes they are art, confirm and strengthen my hunch that there is a post-modern form of feminism erupting.  In "Roar" Ms. Perry's male companion is taken out by a wild animal.  She goes on to sing- "You held me down but I got up....get ready cause I have had enough."  She breaks her high heel off her shoe and makes it into a spearhead; she polishes the toe nails of an elephant.  Both these visuals spoke volumes to me about women not denying their adornments, while also using historically repressive signifiers in new ways, their own way.  These opening lyrics of "Roar" say it all: "I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath, Scared to rock the boat and make a mess, So I sat quietly, agreed politely, I guess that I forgot I had a choice." These young women do have a choice because of their earned privilege in the music industry and they are choosing to roar!

Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" is by far the more profound and timeless of the two videos.  Sharing a kind of meta sensibility with both her VMA performance and Perry's "Roar", its lyrics and visuals combine to create such a stark and fresh vibe layered in multiple levels of meaning that it is no wonder many have not been able to appreciate it or have mocked it. Its lyrics, not written by Cyrus include: "I never meant to start a war, I just wanted you to let me in, And instead of using force, I guess I should've let you win".  Instead of  letting you win, she came in like a wrecking ball.   The gender war is really not any woman's first choice of how to live.  In fact, if we could be let in, we could all gain so much and save so much wasted energy.  Underneath the war, is a desire for love.  Cyrus nails this.

I am inspired by both Perry and Cyrus and I am hopeful that the hate and misogyny that has plagued us will someday be looked back upon as a huge colossal waste of human energy.  Until then, I say to women: support each other, roar and don't be afraid to use a wrecking ball.

I Tech, Therefore I Think

I Tech, Therefore I Think

Design Thinking: An Introduction (Crafted for NAIS)

Design Thinking: An Introduction

God Particle & Education

Welcome back dear readers one or many.  It has been too long since I've put energy into this wild and crazy blog about my recipe for education.  Gotta love a blah blah blog for this!


Remember my proposal: "Variables Thinking" across K-12 and across disciplines.  Students routinely reflect, analyze, play and act on their understanding of the various moving parts in a situation.  They learn that all problems have aspects and elements that interact and that figuring the right balance is key.  They learn this skill is transferable between disciplines and types of challenges.

Great... but what else might be missing from schools?



I think it is the "GOD PARTICLE"  (or GOD DAMN PARTICLE if you prefer.)  The finding of the particle that attracts matter and is the beginning of everything seems an apt metaphor for what our schools are trying to find.  More than ever educators are redefining what matters in teaching and learning and doing their best to find meaning, define and build curriculum that "gets the job done."


At this stage, having a GOD PARTICLE to organize curricular vision is needed. 
And what should this GOD PARTICLE look like or be?

I think every school should take the time to define that vision in 3 words, and then make a promise to their community that they will make these three words real and realized.

Creativity, Communication, Curiosity
Reflective, Resourceful, Responsible
Innovative, Interconnected, Interesting
Leadership, Life Affirming, Persistant
Technological, Inclusive, Global


What I think is most interesting about this is the process teachers and administration (and possibly students too) would go through to reach consensus.  Herein perhaps lies the real "goods" of this proposal.

Thanks for reading!
-Lisa B

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2012-07-05/Higgs-boson-explanation-particle-physics/56045722/1

Q: What does it do?

A: Simply put, the Higgs particle interacts with other subatomic particles that are building blocks of atoms in a way that slows them down. It's the reason that matter in the universe has mass. Mass gives the particles inertia, or resistance to being moved faster.

Q: What is a simple analogy that describes this effect?

A: Compare Higgs bosons to groupies mobbing a celebrity. The other particles are the celebrities, desperately trying to move but slowed by autograph-seekers. Higgs bosons don't have pens, but the attention they give to the other particles slows them, creating inertia.

Faith

Welcome back!!
Tonight it became abuntly clear... "Variables Thinking" is here to stay.
Not only does it respond to the insanity of our time .... I mean what the hell is going on??? But it creates a very sane and simple way forward.

Lately I've been too immmersed in the day to day tasks of teaching design and painting to teenagers (#1 variable = time) to give energy to this Blog. In this immersion I have found this moment though. This time to put index finger to iphone keyboard, to put mind to message, to filter somewhat the outrageous thump and agressive sound from the high school dance which I chaperone... To share my certainty that to "identify key variables" is indeed the essential skill set of our future leaders.

For if we do not create future thinkers and leaders who can make sense of our wild world, and lead the way to rational & creative solutions... Well then... We may as well be stuck, trapped like a young child thinking they can tie their own shoelace but secretly knowing they do not have the skills to do so. Looking to that caregiver with longing yet determination... it seems the equivelant of the Emperor with no clothes.


What is the role of the teacher? I believe it is to save the world. One future thinker at a time.

Defining a Practice

Welcome!

Today I had a vision while listening to the radio.  My vision: every radio story, every expert interviewed, and every lengthy discussion would mention the handy term Variables Thinking.  Because every student had been given the opportunity to practice Variables Thinking from Kindergarten through 12^th grade, every adult would use the short hand term to describe the process of considering multiple aspects of any one challenge or problem.  Each variable would be considered in relation to the others thus completing the process.  And to describe this process: that’s right, the term I have coined, Variables Thinking.

I paint therefore I consider variables. My thinking process… from choosing subject matter, to deciding scale, to surface, to prepping that surface, to choosing brushes, to paint, to mixing paint, to rate of brushwork, to layers of brushwork, to extending drying times, to rushing drying times, etc and so on is one example of VT.  Any expert considers a large number of variables in everything they do well.  Cooks, athletes, scientists, doctors, astrologists, hedge fund managers, yoga Instructors and teachers do it.  Isn’t it time we begin to look at the meta process of considering variables and make it something our children get to practice?  And more importantly, isn’t it time we foster in children an understanding that all problems are essentially the same?  Problems have aspects/parts/elements which are variables.   Giving thought to the relationships between the aspects/parts/elements in addition to considering what aspects/parts/elements might be missing from the problem become fundamental skills.

Here are a few concrete ways I will use Variables Thinking this school year with High School students.

As idea generation:  Brainstorm Variables.  Example:  As you design your ideal home, list all the factors that would ultimately affect your choices.  (Budget, codes, materials, location, perceived spatial needs to name a very few.)

As focusing tool:  Isolate one variable.  Example: Tell a story in 5 paragraphs, then 1 paragraph, then 1 sentence.  LENGTH is the variable here.  Which length is suitable for what use?

As play:  Pick 3 variables from a list of 5 (color, texture, shape, line, value.)  Make 3 different compositions where you emphasize the three Variables differently. In other words in composition #1 prioritize Variable 1, then 2, then 3.  Then switch the order. 

As analysis:  Read two extremely different critiques of the work of Jackson Pollock. Then write about what possible factors contributed to such glaringly different points of view.

Variables Thinking is what goes on in any reflective practice.   Therefore it is adaptable and flexible.

Start with:  What are the parts?  How do they relate to each other?  The practice can address simple things (Play Doh) and complicated things (climate, poverty) and everything in between. 

With the world we live in, a routine practice of Variables Thinking across disciplines and grade levels is a pretty logical idea.  Or at least a pretty cool dream.

Thanks for reading. - L